The Pucking Proposal Summary, Characters and Themes

The Pucking Proposal by Lauren Landish is a contemporary sports romance centered around the fiery, complex relationship between Dalton Days, a dedicated professional hockey goalie, and Joy Barlowe, a spirited local sports reporter.

Set against the backdrop of small-town hockey culture, the story explores themes of love, trust, and personal growth. Through alternating perspectives, readers get an intimate look at Dalton and Joy’s evolving connection—from initial playful antagonism to a deep, emotional bond—while navigating secrets, family dynamics, and the pressures of athletic ambition. It’s a heartfelt, steamy romance about finding love where you least expect it.

Summary

Dalton Days, the seasoned goalie for the Maple Creek Moose hockey team, is in the twilight of his athletic career. At 30, he’s pushing hard to prove he still belongs on the ice, driven by determination and the fear of being replaced by younger talent.

His world shifts unexpectedly when he has a surprisingly charged encounter with Joy Barlowe, a local sports reporter known for her wit and sharp tongue, who also happens to be the sister of one of Dalton’s teammates.

Joy is initially caught off guard by Dalton’s awkward yet compelling presence. Despite her professional stance against dating athletes—stemming from a painful past—she finds herself both irritated and intrigued by Dalton.

Their first interactions are a mix of humor, tension, and unspoken attraction. As the hockey season kicks off, Joy juggles her responsibilities and family traditions, while Dalton battles his own insecurities and the physical demands of his sport.

Their relationship intensifies quietly at first through secretive, intimate video calls before games, a shared ritual that begins as stress relief but soon deepens into emotional intimacy.

This hidden connection challenges Joy’s rules and defenses, while Dalton’s feelings evolve from mere attraction to genuine affection. Both struggle to reconcile their growing bond with their personal and professional boundaries, aware that the stakes are high given Joy’s connection to the team and her protective family.

As their secret romance develops, Dalton finds himself longing not just for physical closeness but for emotional support, viewing Joy as a grounding presence amid the pressures of hockey.

Joy, on her part, battles vulnerability and fear of heartbreak while slowly letting down her walls. Their relationship brings moments of joy and passion but also tests their trust, especially when misunderstandings threaten to unravel the fragile trust they’ve built.

Outside their private world, Joy’s family dynamics add layers of complexity. Her brother Shepherd is protective and wary of Dalton, and their initial disapproval creates tension.

Joy’s struggle to balance loyalty to her family with her feelings for Dalton adds emotional weight to their journey. Meanwhile, Dalton’s teammates and the hockey community become a backdrop where personal and professional lines blur, raising the stakes of their relationship.

The couple experiences highs and lows—from romantic gestures and heartfelt conversations to moments of jealousy and doubt.

Key events like a winter festival and family gatherings showcase the challenges of maintaining secrecy and dealing with public scrutiny.

Dalton’s growth as both a player and a man becomes evident as he embraces vulnerability and love, while Joy navigates her fears and hopes for the future.

Despite the obstacles, Dalton and Joy’s connection strengthens, leading to moments of candid confession and mutual acceptance.

Their evolving relationship is as much about personal transformation as it is about romance, highlighting themes of healing, courage, and the power of genuine love in a small-town, sports-centric world.

Characters

Dalton Days

Dalton is the quintessential gruff yet deeply vulnerable athlete navigating the twilight of his hockey career. As the seasoned goalie for the Maple Creek Moose, his external toughness masks an internal struggle with aging and the fear of being replaced by younger talent.

His dedication to the sport is fierce, but his growing emotional connection with Joy reveals a softer, more introspective side. Dalton exhibits self-deprecating humor and guardedness initially, but as the story progresses, he becomes more open and expressive, especially in his secret interactions with Joy.

His protective instincts emerge strongly—not only toward his team but also in his complicated relationship with Joy, which challenges his usual boundaries and loyalty codes. Dalton’s emotional growth is central; from a man wary of intimacy and heartbreak, he evolves into someone willing to risk it all for love, even at the cost of professional and personal upheaval.

Joy Barlowe

Joy is a strong, independent woman with a complex emotional landscape shaped by past betrayals, especially concerning athletes. As a sports reporter, she prides herself on professionalism and maintains a strict “no-athletes” dating rule to protect herself.

Despite this, her attraction to Dalton disrupts her self-imposed boundaries, forcing her to reconcile her fears with the undeniable chemistry and connection they share. Joy’s humor and sass add a lively dimension to her character, but beneath this is a woman wrestling with vulnerability, trust, and family loyalty.

Her secretive relationship with Dalton grows from casual physical interaction into deep emotional dependence, showing her gradual softening and increasing willingness to open her heart. Throughout the story, Joy struggles with balancing her professional life, family expectations, and personal desires, making her a nuanced and relatable heroine.

Shepherd Barlowe

Shepherd is Joy’s brother and Dalton’s teammate, playing a significant but often background role that impacts the main characters’ dynamics. He embodies loyalty to family and the hockey team, acting as a bridge and sometimes a barrier between Dalton and Joy.

His initial reactions to Dalton’s closeness with Joy are protective and confrontational, particularly when Dalton publicly declares his love. Shepherd’s eventual willingness to listen and accept the relationship marks an important turning point in the story, highlighting themes of family acceptance and growth.

His presence underscores the challenges and complexities of intertwining personal and professional relationships.

Hope Barlowe

Hope, Joy’s sister, provides emotional support and a touch of lightheartedness in the narrative. She often teases Joy, pushing her to face her feelings while also showing genuine concern.

Hope helps anchor the family dynamics, especially during moments of tension, such as Joy’s internal conflicts and the fallout from misunderstandings. Though not central to the romance, Hope’s role as confidante enriches the depiction of Joy’s world and the family’s collective involvement in her life decisions.

Max

Max appears as a minor but pivotal character in the early tension between Dalton and Joy. His flirtatious interactions with Joy at the team’s social gatherings serve to ignite Dalton’s jealousy and protective streak.

Max’s presence indirectly helps reveal Dalton’s deeper feelings for Joy and amplifies the emotional stakes of their budding relationship.

Joy’s Parents and Rayleigh

Joy’s parents offer quiet but solid emotional support, representing traditional family values tempered with acceptance. They are aware of Joy’s relationship with Dalton earlier than she expects, and their subtle backing helps frame the family’s eventual reconciliation.

Rayleigh, as a friend in social scenes like the Winter Festival, adds a layer of normalcy and community around Joy, contrasting with the secretive and intense nature of her romance.

Themes

Professional Identity and Personal Vulnerability in a High-Stakes Sports Environment

One of the themes is how Dalton’s identity as a professional athlete is deeply intertwined with his self-worth, and how this identity is challenged and reshaped through his evolving relationship with Joy. Dalton is portrayed as a goalie on the brink of losing his prime, wrestling with the physical and psychological demands of his career.

His vulnerability is exposed not only by the pressure to perform on ice but also through his growing emotional openness with Joy. The juxtaposition of his tough exterior with moments of insecurity—such as fearing replacement by younger players or feeling out of sync after losses—reveals the fragile balance athletes maintain between public strength and private doubt.

His relationship with Joy becomes a grounding force that simultaneously threatens and enriches his professional focus, showing how deeply personal relationships can disrupt and redefine athletic identity.

Navigating the Forbidden and Transgressive Boundaries of Intimacy Within Interpersonal and Familial Power Dynamics

The relationship between Dalton and Joy unfolds within a web of social and familial constraints that heighten the tension and stakes of their connection. Joy’s “no-athletes” rule, rooted in past betrayals, symbolizes a self-imposed boundary meant to protect her emotionally, yet it also frames the relationship as inherently transgressive.

Their secretive intimacy—manifested through private video calls and hidden meetings—speaks to the thrill and danger of crossing social codes, particularly with Joy’s brother Shepherd entrenched in the same hockey world. This dynamic highlights the complexities of negotiating desire within the strictures of family loyalty and unspoken team rules.

The secrecy and eventual exposure of their relationship catalyze conflict not just between lovers but across family lines, forcing each character to confront their loyalties and fears. This theme probes how love can both challenge and be constrained by the overlapping hierarchies of sport, family, and community.

The Emotional Labor and Psychological Turbulence of Reconciling Past Trauma with Emerging Romantic Vulnerability

Joy’s internal struggle reveals a profound thematic layer about the emotional labor involved in overcoming past wounds to embrace new love. Her initial resistance to dating athletes, her anxiety about breaking familial trust, and her episodes of self-doubt after misunderstandings underscore the long shadow that personal trauma casts on present relationships.

The narrative explores how Joy’s defense mechanisms, like maintaining professional distance and denying emotional attachment, gradually erode as she and Dalton’s connection deepens. This theme underscores the tension between control and surrender in emotional healing—the push and pull between guarding oneself against potential pain and risking vulnerability for intimacy.

Joy’s journey is emblematic of the broader human challenge to reconcile the scars of past betrayals with the hope of genuine connection. It illustrates how love can be both a risk and a balm.

Masculine Identity Through Emotional Transparency and Relational Commitment in Contemporary Romance

Dalton’s evolution from a solitary, career-focused athlete to a fully emotionally available partner presents a rich theme about the modern redefinition of masculinity. 

Initially characterized by self-deprecating humor and a guarded demeanor, Dalton’s gradual openness to expressing his feelings, embracing vulnerability, and publicly affirming his love signals a transformative journey away from traditional stoicism toward a more nuanced emotional maturity.

His willingness to confront conflict head-on, especially with Shepherd and within the team context, marks a departure from typical masculine archetypes in sports fiction. 

This theme examines how relational commitment and emotional honesty are presented not as weaknesses but as strengths that lead to personal growth.

Dalton’s story challenges the cultural scripts around male athletes, showcasing how love and partnership can catalyze deeper self-understanding and reframe masculine identity.

Public Persona and Private Desire in a Media-Saturated Small-Town Sports Culture

Throughout the novel, the tension between public perception and private realities plays a crucial thematic role. Joy’s profession as a sports reporter adds a meta-layer, where the boundaries between observer and participant blur.

Their secret relationship takes place under the scrutiny of the community, teammates, family, and media, making every interaction fraught with the risk of exposure. The novel probes how characters manage their public personas—Dalton as a revered goalie and Joy as a professional journalist—while navigating intensely private desires.

This dynamic exposes the performative nature of identity in a tight-knit sports town, where gossip, reputation, and professional boundaries intersect with genuine human emotion. It also reflects the broader contemporary issue of how media and social expectations shape and complicate intimate relationships in the public eye.